Darddog's Attack Plan for College Football DFS: Week 0
A top-ranked college football DFS player, Micah Bedard (darddog) is here to walk you through the upcoming DraftKings slate. Micah will break down his favorite DFS picks at each position and will also lay out his strategy for how he is attacking the slate overall.
Hello friends, and welcome into another glorious season of college football!
I’m back for another year, and my main slate article will look a little different this season. Instead of going game-by-game, I’m going to give you some Core and GPP plays at QB, RB, and WR. All of the pricing will be for DraftKings, although I will have some FanDuel notes at the end.
I’ll also give my general attack plan for the slate. I noted this frequently last season, but for those who weren’t around, I do not play cash games. So my strategy on these articles will be from a large-field GPP perspective.
We’ve got a 5-game slate on DK for Week 0. Let’s get right into it!
College Football DFS: Top DraftKings Picks for Week 0
Quarterback
Core Plays
Caleb Williams
$9,900
The reigning Heisman Trophy winner is the easiest play on the slate for me. Hot take, I know.
There would have to be some crazy variance for Williams to not be one of the two highest-scoring QBs. Fitting him in will be no problem, as pricing is especially soft for Week 0.
He’s currently projected for nearly 10 fantasy points more than the next highest QB, and his floor is probably 25-30 fantasy points. I would think he’s a shoe-in for the 300-yard bonus, and if he runs in a TD and throws for 2-3 more, you will definitely need him. I do think San Jose State can keep this from getting out of hand very early, and I would be surprised to see him last less than three quarters.
The only reason to fade him is ownership. If you do, godspeed.
GPP Plays
AJ Swann
$8,500
Swann is a great GPP play because I think most lineups will start with Caleb and then go to one of the cheaper QBs to pair him with. That’s definitely a viable strategy, albeit a popular one. I’ll get to Will Sheppard in the WR section, but he will be the highest-owned WR.
A lot of lineups will have Caleb and Sheppard. Not a ton will have Caleb, Sheppard, and Swann.
Swann was a four-star QB recruit and participated in the Elite 11. The talent is definitely there, and he gets a Hawaii defense that allowed 6.7 yards per play last season. Sign me up.
Chevan Cordeiro
$6,300
Cordeiro might come in as the lowest-owned QB on the slate. His Spartans are 30-point underdogs to USC and face them on the road. He’s also in a weird price zone, where Hank Bachmeier is $500 less and should garner a ton of popularity.
USC’s offense scores a lot and does it quickly, and if Cordeiro and his offense can keep it within striking distance, they should see the field quite a bit. The only downside is lack of returning firepower at the WR spot. Justin Lockhart is probably going to miss the game with an injury, and that leaves Cordeiro’s WR corps thin.
What I really think that means is that Cordeiro is going to have to use his legs a little bit more, which is great for his DFS owners. I’ll probably be at least double the field on him.
Quarterback Summary
In GPPs, I really think you take a full-fade or lock approach on Caleb Williams. If he does put up a sub-20 fantasy points performance, you’ll look like a genius for fading him. You just have to acknowledge you can move onto Week 1 if he has 35+.
When it comes to pairing with Williams, I would much rather play with guys like AJ Swann, Chevan Cordeiro, and Kurtis Rourke from an ownership standpoint than Hank Bachmeier. If you do play Williams and Bachmeier together, I would make sure you get different with at least one of their pass-catchers.
Williams/Swann builds, as I mentioned earlier, should be great for GPP constructions. Diego Pavia has been getting talked up, but I just feel like that game environment is awful and his range of outcomes is very volatile. I will still have some though.
Kurtis Rourke is a great pivot off Bachmeier and gives you some rushing upside as well.
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